Bandung's old trees pose dilemma, loved but feared by some residents

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Unpredictable weather has seen some Bandung residents no longer look at their city's ancient trees with fondness and appreciation -- but as threat to their life.

The reason was A recent accident that killed tax office employee Yusli Rasyidin.

He was hit by an aging tree as it crashed to the ground during storms late August -- and this horrid accident is still fresh in many resident's minds.

So the people of Bandung have pushed for city administration to cut down some of the old trees, especially those in an obviously fragile condition.

Purnama, a West Dago resident, said he was worried he too might one day see the same terrible fate as Yusli.

"It will be more dangerous when the rain comes," Purnama said.

"More trees might fall down."

Most of the city's older trees can still be found along streets in north Bandung, mainly in Jalan Sumatra, Cihampeulas, Dago, Imam Bonjol and Ganesha.

The accident which killed Yusli took place on a clear and sunny day, when there was no rain or any sign of a storm.

Head of Bandung city Park Office, Yogi Supardjo, said the tree had fallen because its roots had become too old to stabilize it -- but that they had not been able to detect the tree's state in time.

He said the tree's roots could also have been damaged by members of the public dumping chemical and household waste, including vinegar-filled food leftovers.

"We're still investigating the accident now," Yogi said.

But he said he would not make any rash moves to cut down all the city's old trees.

In fact, he said Bandung needed some 600,000 more trees to provide a stable oxygen supply for the city's residents -- as well as to provide a cooler atmosphere and shade.

Data from the Environment Monitoring Agency in West Java, said Bandung's temperature had increased by 3 degrees Celsius.

The city's temperature once reached 30 degrees Celsius at most but was now climbing to sometimes 33 degrees, the data said.

Environment expert Mubyar Purwasasmita from non-governmental organization Observers Council of Sunda Plateau Environment and Forest said Bandung should have around 1.2 million trees to supply oxygen for its some 2.5 million residents.

"If people start to talk about cutting down old trees, tell them to wait a minute," Mubyar said.

"We need oxygen to live too and the main problem lies with poor supervision and maintenance by officials."

Yogi said there were less than 100 old trees found across several locations in northern Bandung.

He said his office had tried to prevent old trees from falling by cutting off fragile or too-heavy branches.

And the city has today imposed strict and multi-layered regulations to protect their old trees.

Laws around the environment and the city's 2005 local ordinance regulations would see fines of between Rp 5 million and Rp 100 million imposed on anyone found purposely damaging the city's trees.

Yogi blamed inadequate experience and a lack of technology to help his office learn more about the real condition of the city's oldest trees -- but he said they would do their best to preserve them.

In addition, he said there were plans to insure the city's older trees that could become a threat to pedestrians and motorists.

Jakarta administration has insured 4.6 million trees across the city and would pay insurance fees of Rp 150 million annually.

"We just want to take precautions.

"If there is an accident like the one that happened to Yusli, it will not be a problem for us to provide compensation," Yogi said.

VP hails role of RI firms in Makassar airport project

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Vice President Jusuf Kalla hailed the role national firms played in the ongoing construction of a new airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi, saying it was time to empower Indonesians to be able to carry out such development projects in other sectors and provinces.

"The government has its own interests in completing the project as soon as possible to serve the increasing amount of flights to the country's easternmost region.

"But we have to applaud national companies too, which have absorbed huge costs from the state budget and the province's budget," he said over the weekend.

Kalla, who paid a visit to the project two weeks ago, said the airport construction was a pilot project carried out all by Indonesian companies, experts and workers.

"I think it's time to empower national companies to handle all the work in development projects financed by the state, in efforts to express our independence and to create jobs for our people."

Separately, Lukman Laisa, chairman of a working unit of the Directorate of Air Transportation at the Transportation Ministry, said the government has entrusted construction company PT Duta Graha Indah to construct a 1.8-km stretch of the 3.1-km runway, following its success in building a taxiway and parking lot at the new airport.

"The first phase of the runway construction project is nearing completion and we are now open for registration of domestic companies interested in the project's second phase," he said.

President of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, M. Yusuf, said he was proud of Duta Graha and the other 17 domestic companies taking part in the project, which has absorbed Rp 570 billion from the state and province budgets.

Duta Graha human resources director Sutiono Teguh said the company, which is scheduled to offer its shares to the public in an IPO later this month, has joined in the government's bidding process for the development of a new airport in Medan, North Sumatra.

"On the basis of our experience in Makassar, the government may give us the opportunity to take part in the new projects."

'Macet'? Call for a protest

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): In response to the city's worsening traffic congestion, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute has opened a call center to receive motorists' complaints.

The institute's public lawyer, Gatot, said Sunday he had received at least 50 complaints via e-mail, over the telephone and by fax.

"We will hold a meeting Monday with these complainants to discuss the city's perennial traffic problem," he said.

Those who wish to complain about traffic congestion in the capital can call 3145518, fax 3912377, or send an e-mail to lbhjkt@indosat.net.id or macet_jakarta@yahoo.com.

The city's traffic congestion has worsened since thedevelopment of new busway corridors in Pluit area, North Jakarta; Grogol area and Jl. S. Parman, Slipi, in West Jakarta; Cililitan area in East Jakarta; and Jl. Gatot Subroto and the Pondok Indah main thoroughfare in South Jakarta.

How ready is Soekarno-Hatta for A380?

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia, a major target market for national airlines of neighboring countries, may have loads of consumers eager to fly with the new "queen of the sky".

However, some changes have to be adopted in order for the Airbus A380 to land and take off at Indonesia's busiest airport, Soekarno-Hatta.

Kasmin Kamil, head of Angkasa Pura II which is responsible for Soekarno-Hatta Airport, says that the airport has enough runway length for the A380.

The A380, despite its size and weight, can take off and land on the same runways as the Boeing 747 (in which the A380 is intended to replace after a nearly 40-year reign in long-haul flights).

However, building the aerobridge and added facility, which Soekarno-Hatta needs for the objective, is costly.

Airports aim to shorten waiting time for customers by having higher gate capacity (more immigration and check-in desks) and shorter waiting time for passengers' bags.

According to SilverKris magazine, 24 airports will be fully prepared to receive the A380, and by 2010, 67 airports -- most of them in Asia -- should be ready.

The Sydney airport has been preparing for the new generation of aircraft for over four years, and is spending more than US$74 million on its infrastructure, with a further $26 million to be spent by 2008.

Singapore has spent $39 million to update Changi terminals 1 and 2. The upcoming Changi terminal 3, with extended and widened aircraft pavements, will be even more ready for the superjumbo.

London Heathrow, which is also known as one of the world's busiest airports, has invested some $1 billion.

The A380 accommodates 471 passengers, which is 139 more passengers than the Boeing 777-300 (332 seats).

Singapore Airlines (SIA), the first to fly the colossal aircraft, reckons that Indonesia remains a very important market to them. SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw says that they enjoy strong support among Indonesian travellers.

"Together with our subsidiary, Silk Air, (we) play a significant role in providing inbound tourism traffic to Indonesia."

The airline says that in order for them to fly the A380 to a specific airport, the number of passengers flying a certain route has to be large enough and the airport needs to be a global hub.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo

President calls on local administrations to provide space for cyclists

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called on the regional administrations to provide adequate spaces for cyclists including those who use bicycles to work.

The head of state made the call at the National Monument here Sunday morning when seeing off cyclists who are engaged in an environmental campaign along a trip from Jakarta to Bali bearing the theme `Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali`.

"The mayors and district heads across Indonesia should provide spaces for cyclists including those to work," the president said.

According to him, not only does cycling save the world due to less air pollution but also human beings as they inhale fresher air.

"The other advantage of cycling is to reduce our daily expenses as bicycles need no fuel oil which is costly," he said, adding that cycling could make people healthier and far from diseases.

Thus, the head of state encouraged the public to popularize cycling activities in Indonesia.

On the occasion, State Minister for the Environment Rahmat Witoelar said Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali would take place from November 11 to December 1, 2007, as part of the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held from December 3 to 14, 2007 in Bali.

The cycling event is being participated in by 50 cyclists consisting 15 participants of the main team who will be running the Jakarta-Bali route and 35 members of the cycling community from cities where they will pass through.

The route will pass through the cities of Jakarta, Karawang, Pamanukan, Cirebon, Tegal-Pekalongan, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Madiun, kertosono, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Tabanan, Denpasar, Nusadua.

"The cyclists will take the distance of 1447 kilometers passing through 44 cities with stopovers in 16 cities," the minister said.

The 15 cyclists in the main team have passed a selection test as they were able to take a nonstop trip from Jakarta to Bandung (West Java).

"The event is intended to campaign and popularize the use of bicycles in support of the people`s daily activities," he said.

Rahmat said along the route, the campaign team were scheduled to make socialization on impacts of the climate change and alternative solutions to the issue through mass media as well as discussions with regional leaders and people among other things.

President sees off cyclists to campaign climate change

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the National Monument square here Sunday morning saw off cyclists who will run from Jakarta to Bali as part of a campaign on the climate change.

On the occasion, the head of state gave the Red and White flags to the cyclists who will be on a 1447-kilometer long trip from the capital city to the resort island.

"I encourage our brothers to promote cycling as it has a lot of advantages," the head of state said, adding that the event was held also as an effort to save the earth.

Meanwhile, State Minister for the Environment Rahmat Witoelar said Bicycle for Earth Goes to Bali would take place from November 11 to December 1, 2007, as part of the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held from December 3 to 14, 2007 in Bali.

The cycling event is being participated in by 50 cyclists consisting of 15 participants of the main team who will be running the Jakarta-Bali route and 35 members of the cycling community from cities where they will pass through.

The route will pass through the cities of Jakarta, Karawang, Pamanukan, Cirebon, Tegal-Pekalongan, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Solo, Madiun, kertosono, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Situbondo, Banyuwangi, Tabanan, Denpasar, Nusadua.

"The cyclists will take the distance of 1447 kilometers passing through 44 cities with stopovers in 16 cities," the minister said.

The 15 cyclists in the main team have passed a selection test as they were able to take a nonstop trip from Jakarta to Bandung (West Java).

"The event is intended to campaign and popularize the use of bicycles in support of the people`s daily activities," he said.

Rahmat said along the route, the campaign team were scheduled to make socialization on impacts of the climate change and alternative solutions to the issue through mass media as well as discussions with regional leaders and people among other things.

On the occasion, the president in tandem with First Lady Ani Yudhoyono accompanied the cyclists till the Hotel Indonesia circle, Jakarta.

Govt to display eco-friendly transportation at Bali meet

Adianto P Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government will exhibit its eco-friendly public transportation to the international community during the upcoming climate change conference in Bali.

However, since most of the country's public transportation vehicles are still powered by fossil fuels, the government will swap the engines of the vehicles to be put on display in Bali with ones that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) first.

"We will send the three-wheeled pedicab bajaj, the Metro Mini public mini-buses and CNG taxis to Bali from Jakarta on Dec. 2," Mangisara Lubis, in charge of site events for the Bali meeting, told reporters Friday.

"The display will become part of the site events at the Bali conference."

He said about a hundred businesses related to renewable energy and green products would also exhibit products.

Mangisara, also an adviser to the environment minister, said the vehicles would have to travel with their own supply of CNG for refueling since filling stations along the route to Bali wouldn't have any.

"We hope this will push world leaders, including Indonesia's, to promote lower emission fuels such as CNG for the sake of climate change," he said.

Indonesia will host the 13th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from Dec. 3 to 14 in Bali.

Over 10,000 delegates will attend the conference to discuss ways to combat climate change.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an independent group of experts tasked with assessing scientific aspects of climate change, reported that the use of fossil fuels including in transportation and industry was the main contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

High concentrations of greenhouse gasses generate climate change.

Mangisara said the government would conduct vehicle emissions testing along the route of a parade to feature public transportation vehicles in Bali.

"We will doing tests on ... private and other vehicles at 13 gas stations along the route as an effort to boost public awareness of climate change," he said.

To improve air quality, the government ordered all public transportation to switch to CNG, effective 2005, as part of its Blue Sky program.

Although the pilot program is in Jakarta, CNG-fueled public vehicles in the city are limited to busway coaches and 250 bajaj pedicabs.

The organizer of the Bali conference earlier said all motor vehicles entering Bali's Nusa Dua area during the conference had to be powered by biofuel.

Mangisara said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would dispatch a group of cyclists from Jakarta to Bali on Tuesday as a welcome brigade for the conference.

The 15 cyclists will pedal the 1,433-kilometer route to Bali in 20 days.

Garuda to resume flights to Europe next year

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Garuda Indonesia`s planes will resume flying to Europe from Indonesia at the end of next year after the state-owned company suspended its flights to European destinations in 2004 because of losses.

"(Garuda will resume flying) on condition that flight ban to Europe has been lifted, and Garuda has proper planes to resume the flights," Garuda managing director, Emirsyah Satar told the press here Friday after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the national flag-carrier and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Emirsyah said, the right choice now for the flights to Europe would be the wide-bodied long-distance airliners for the Jakarta-Amsterdam and Bali-Amsterdam flights.

"We should determine the best choice, Airbus 330 or Boeing 777," Emisryah said, adding that Amsterdam has become the most potential destination.

Meanwhile, head of the Garuda communications affairs Pujobroto commented that a comprehensive study should be conducted on the planned resumption of Garuda flights to Europe.

"The study should cover competitiveness and market segment, for instance Garuda will use Boeing 747 focusing on business people," Pudjobroto said.

Garuda, Indonesia`s biggest air carrier has been operating aircraft of 48 different types to 30 domestic and 24 overseas destinations.

Minister: EU team satisfied with RI airline condition

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said the European Union (EU) team that conducted an audit and verification in Indonesia from November 5 to 9, 2007, was in general satisfied with the current condition of the country`s airline companies.

"They were satisfied after auditing the airlines as they saw improvements in the skills of the pilots and crew members, maintenance and others, both hardware and software," the minister told newsmen here Friday.

The EU team led by Frederico Grandini including five experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), was in Indonesia from November 5 to 9, 2007, to audit and verify the condition of the Indonesian airlines including the regulators and operators.

The team consisted of Jean-Luis Ammeloot of EASA (Germany), Declan Fitzpatrick (EASA, Ireland), Dick Nederlof (EASA, the Netherlands), Annette Ruge (EASA, Germany) and Auke Tjeerd Sebastian van der Weide (EASA, Germany).

Regarding the regulators (based on their explanations to the transportation minister), the minister said they considered there were a number of things, in this case regulations, which should be improved but they were not the fundamental ones.

"They did not specifically mention (the regulations which need improvement)," Jusman said.

According to the minister, they are now drawing up reports and recommendations which will be handed to Indonesia next Monday (Nov 12) and then to the safety 27-member team of the EU.

"The Air Transportation Director General is invited to their meeting on November 19, 2007, to explain and convince the EU members that improvements had been made," the minister said.

On the EU team`s findings about things that should be improved by the regulators and operators, Jusman said they had yet to make final decisions as they were only a technical team, and no decision makers.

The minister said the most important thing was that he had expressed the Indonesian government`s wish for the lifting of the flight ban against 51 Indonesian airline companies imposed since July 6, 2007.

"Otherwise, the airline companies in Indonesia will find it difficult to grow," the minister said.

He further said they would not directly lift the ban but probably after a phase of evaluation.

On a different occasion, Air Transportation Director General of the Transportation Ministry Budhi M Suyitno said the airlines which were verified and audited by the EU team were Garuda Indonesia, Mandala, Premi Air and Air Fast.

"The four airlines have direct flights to Europe," he said.

The EU team made a surveillance, oversight and verification on the findings in the field and then made recommendations, he said, adding, "Based on the recommendations, we must take measures of correction".

On the possibility that the ban would not be lifted or even extended, Budhi said, "we improve the safety condition not for the EU, but for our own public, then for theirs".

"With or without a ban by outsiders, we must work hard to improve the our flight safety condition," Budhi said.

Riau hits the gas for tollway development

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru

Riau province is offering incentives for the development of 135 kilometers of turnpike connecting Pekanbaru and Dumai so as to attract more potential investors.

Previously, the provincial government had failed to conclude two deals for the project, which it is estimated will cost around US$528 million, due to a lack of bidders.

Riau Province governor Rusli Zainal told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the province would provide a total of Rp 150 billion to the tollway developer for land acquisition purposes.

"The land acquisition fund will be provided jointly by Riau Province, Pekanbaru city administration, Siak Regency, and Bengkalis and Dumai as the toll road will provide great benefits to all of these areas," Rusli said.

In addition, the provincial government had promised it would pay a subsidy should the revenue from the project fail to cover construction costs.

"We are confident that with these incentives, more investors will bid for the tollway project," he said.

In addition to a lack of incentives, few investors had expressed interest in the project as there is already a 210-kilometer-long public road connecting Riau and Dumai. Despite not being in prime condition, traffic on the existing road is rarely disrupted.

Following the offer, Riau Province Promotion and Investment chief Tionlina Pangaribuan said that one Chinese investor and one local investor, PT Sari Bangun Persada, had already expressed an interested.

"The Chinese investor is a state company that is active in investing out of China," she said.

The project is among 50 projects that the provincial government put on the table at the Riau Investment Summit, which concluded Thursday.

Jakarta to see worse traffic next year

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Jakarta will see more road work next year, with Governor Fauzi Bowo announcing his solution to the chronic traffic problems that plague the capital is to build more overpasses and underpasses.

He said it was the best way to avoid social conflict, as has happened around past construction when land has been compulsorily acquired by the government.

"If horizontal expansion is impossible than we'll do it vertically. Underpasses and overpasses will be a suitable option to ease traffic jams."

The administration, he said, would get the money from city bond issuances and profits made by city-run businesses.

He said the administration was lobbying the government to be allowed to manage the inner-city toll road.

"We can use the profits made from the inner-city toll road's operations to build underpasses and overpasses," Fauzi said. (Mustaqim Adamrah)

Busway project gets foreign support

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the severe traffic congestion it has caused, the busway project is expected to expand, with the city administration having secured support from a foreign transportation institution.

Project director from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) Budi Kuntjoro said Wednesday traffic congestion caused by the construction of busway corridors would be short term and would lead to long-term benefits.

In a meeting with Governor Fauzi Bowo and his team Tuesday, visiting ITDP Asia regional director John Ernst said if all planned busway corridors were completed, the city's traffic problems would be partly solved.

"Despite the fact the congestion is bad now, in a few months Jakarta's traffic situation will be better," he said.

However, he said the city administration should have conducted more extensive planning before starting to construct busway corridors around the city.

"The finished and on-going construction of the corridors has happened too fast, resulting in some imperfections," Ernst said.

Long waiting periods at intersections, crowded busses and bus shelters and lanes that are not exclusive to busway busses are among problems the system faces, he said.

Such problems hamper the movement of other vehicles across the city and are part of the reason the administration sought the advice of the ITDP, he added.

The ITDP is a New York-based non-governmental organization working to promote environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation policies and projects worldwide.

It received funding from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to assist Jakarta with its busway project.

The UNEP considers the busway system to be environmentally friendly as it has the potential to reduce the number of private vehicles on the streets. Busway busses also run off gas, which is less harmful to the environment.

The ITDP, which has been employed by the Jakarta administration since the beginning of the project, offered nine recommendations to improve the busway system at the meeting Tuesday.

The organization's recommendations included improving busway's services overall, more efficient operational costs, improvements in commercial arrangements between the administration and private institutions, improvements to busway's ticketing system and the introduction of ideal ticket prices.

It was also suggested that better planning be carried out before further corridors are constructed.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo told the press after the meeting he would establish a team to follow up on the recommendations and would hold regular meetings to discuss the project.

He said the city administration was yet to decide whether it would construct the next five busway corridors next year as the system's effectiveness was still being discussed.

The administration is also planning to establish a team of stakeholders and transportation experts to discuss improvements to the city's transportation system overall, Fauzi said. (wda)

Arrests made in theft of plane passenger bags

TANGERANG, Banten (Jakarta Post): Security officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport have busted a ring of thieves responsible for stealing valuables from passenger luggage.

"So far, we have arrested a total of 25 suspects comprising 21 baggage handlers who work for Garuda Indonesia, Air Asia and Batavia Air. We also arrested four people suspected to be buyers of the stolen goods," airport police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. GunturSetyanto said Thursday.

Guntur said police were looking for seven more suspects.

Police also seized 160 stolen items, including cellular phones, multimedia players, watches, cameras, video cameras, sunglasses, perfume and jewelry.

Guntur said the suspects opened passengers' bags in the belly of the planes. For international flights, the thieves riffled through bags as they were being transported from the plane to the carousel.

The airport executive manager Edi Haryanto explained that on Oct. 25 security officers caught three airport workers stealing a necklace and a bracelet from passenger bags on an Air Asia flight to Kuala Lumpur.

They were transferred to police for further investigation, which led to the arrests of the 25 others suspects.

"The perpetrators will be charged with violating Article 363 of the Criminal Code and if proven guilty they face a maximum punishment of five years," Guntur said. (Multa Fidrus/**)

Bali intends to limit number of cars

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - The Bali provincial administration intended to limit the number of cars on the island by imposing higher taxes in order the keep the island`s threshold in balance.

"By controlling the number of cars, we also hope to maintain the road infrastructures and decrease the accident rate," Bali Governor Dewa Beratha said here on Thursday.

The governor made the statement in a plenary session of the Bali Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD) discussing Bali`s draft budget 2008.

Governor Dewa Beratha also hoped that such a policy would help reduce traffic congestions on the world`s most famous tourist resort.

The Bali administration has set a target of receiving Rp275.457 billion from car ownership taxes for the 2007 budget, or an increase of 15 percent from the previous year.

Qatar Airways may boost service in RI

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Qatar Airways, which serves direct flights from Doha to Jakarta and Bali, plans to increase the seat capacity of its Doha-Denpasar route in response to increasing demand.

Area manager for Indonesia, Joe Rajadurai, said Wednesday the airline would replace its Airbus A300 with the newer Airbus A330-200 and A330-300 so the seating capacity could be increased by 53 and the cargo capacity by seven tons.

"Our flights were full during the first three months. Therefore we need bigger aircraft," said Rajadurai, adding most of the airline's customers were passengers from Europe.

However, he did not specify when the airline would operate the new aircraft.

Qatar Airways started serving its four-times-a-week service between Doha and Denpasar in March. It also flies to Jakarta seven times a week. (Trw)

Flood mitigation measures not in place

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Officials have said they are powerless to do anything about the trash that constantly clogs the sluice gate in Manggarai, South Jakarta.

Extra staff have been put on to man the gate, which is crucial to warding off flooding in the city.

An operator at the Manggarai sluice gate, Parjono, said Tuesday that while there had previously only been one staff member managing the gate, there were now three staff on at any time.

"We don't dare to have less than that these days," he said.

The Manggarai sluice gate can contain water up to a depth of 9.5 meters, the deepest in the city and almost a meter above sea level. But on Monday it was clogged with garbage carried along the Ciliwung River.

Trash that blocked sluice gates is regarded as one of the prime causes of the massive floods that paralyzed Jakarta early this year, killing 48 people and causing up to Rp 12 trillion (US$1.3 billion) in damages. (Mustaqim Adamrah and Ikram Putra)

Air Asia opens direct flight from Aceh to Kuala Lumpur

Aceh Besar (ANTARA News) - A Malaysian airline, AirAsia, opens direct flights from the Indonesian province of Aceh to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

"This is a new history for Malaysia in view of the opening of cooperation opportunity in tourism and economy," Malaysia tourism promotion director Noor Azman Samsudin said at Sultan Iskandar Muda airport here on Tuesday for a maiden flight to Kuala Lumpur.

He said the flight would be carried out three times a week namely on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

He said in the company of Malaysian consulate general in Medan Fauzi AirAsia would operate an Airbus-320 for the service that has 180 seats.

"From now on people in Aceh would no longer have to go to Medan first if they wish to fly to Malaysia, or to arrive in Medan from Malaysia before reaching Aceh," he said.

Indonesia sees increasing motorcycles sales next year

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Total sales of motorcycles in the country will likely increase from 4.4 million last year to 4.8 million this year and to about 5.2 million to 5.4 million next year, according to an executive.

"Indonesia, with a per capita income of US$1,600, will continue to see increased sales of motorcycles until the per capita income reaches $3,000," president of the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI) Gunadi Sindhuwinata said on the sidelines of a seminar Monday.

According to AISI, total motorcycles sales in the country during the first eight months ot the year already reached 2.9 million, up by 10.9 percent from 2.62 million in the same period last year.

Gunadi said that motorcycles were popular in the country as they were a cheap form of transportation, even when compared to mass transportation.

He said that the steady increase of sales over the last few years had made Indonesia the third largest country in terms of motorcycle numbers after China and India, where annual sales of motorcycles grew by 14 million and 8 million respectively.

"The motorcycle population in the country is now estimated at 23 million," he said, "It is likely to exceed 28 million as of the end of next year."

He said that the rising number of motorcycles would boost the business in spare parts.

"The growth rate of the sales of spare parts is usually higher than that of motorcycle sales," he said. (tif)

EU to audit Indonesian airlines with focus on safety, procedures

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A team from the European Union (EU) is in town this week to audit three Indonesian airlines and determine the fate of the air travel ban for Indonesian airlines in European airspace.

The team, headed by Grandini, is scheduled to be in Indonesia from Monday to Friday to verify all airline procedures, operations and monitoring process conducted by the head of air transportation.

The three airlines chosen to be audited included Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and charter company Prime Air, which once had contracts with the European community.

"We will be open and will provide any information requested by the audit team," PT. Garuda Indonesia spokesman Pujobroto told Detik.com.

Pujobroto was speaking after a closed meeting to discuss the technicalities of the audit process with Garuda Indonesia and the Transportation Ministry at the ministry's office in Central Jakarta.

Pujobroto said Garuda would prepare information on airplane operational details, security and maintenance procedures.

The EU prohibited all Indonesian air carriers from entering European countries on July 6, although there were no Indonesian airlines flying to European countries at the time.

Garuda was planning to resume flights to the Netherlands just before the ban.

The travel ban has caused several European tourists to cancel travel to Indonesia.

The prohibition requires tourism agencies to advise their customers Indonesian airlines are unsafe, but significant losses have not been reported.

A meeting attended by EU ambassador Jean Breteche and officials from Indonesia's air transportation body in July decided an audit team would be sent to Indonesia in November -- giving the republic three months to make all the necessary improvements.

Breteche said the EU needed proof of Indonesia's "action plan, commitment and real measures" to increase its safety standards.

The Saudi Arabian General Authority on Civil Aviation (GACA) said it planned to join the EU in banning Indonesian airlines from flying to the country, but after sending a team of technical delegates to Indonesia in August, Garuda was cleared to enter the Middle East kingdom.

Several local major airlines, including Garuda, have attempted to highlight their improvements by obtaining official certification through an operational safety audit from the International Air Transport Association. (lva)

World cities join hands to overcome disasters

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As a city that seems to have more than its fair share of disasters, Jakarta has joined an international association of cities that will work together to mitigate their effects in the future.

In the last few years, Indonesia has seen floods, earthquakes and bomb blasts in both urban and rural areas. A disaster in a densely populated city requires a different reaction to one in a remote village.

"Each city is unique. However, major cities around the world share a lot of similarities. They face more or less the same problems," Mikiko Yoshimura, the director for International Joint Projects at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, told The Jakarta Post recently.

She said Jakarta had more in common with Bangkok than with a neighboring Indonesian city.

"Most capitals share problems like water, transportation, health and environment," Yoshimura said.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2000 led the foundation of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 (ANMC21). So far, 11 cities are members: Bangkok, Delhi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo and Yangon.

"The objective of this network is to share knowledge and experiences concerning common practical problems. We don't touch political problems," Yoshimura said.

So far the ANMC21 has established 12 joint projects ranging from the development of a small passenger jet for traveling throughout the region to the Asian Performing Art Festival.

"The most popular are the Network for Crisis Management and the Countermeasures to Combat Infectious Diseases in Asia," said Yoshimura.

During the last week of October, Jakarta played host to the 5th Conference of the Network for Crisis Management. This year's annual conference focused on managing and mitigating disasters like fires, earthquakes and floods.

The city presentations showed the different problems faced by each city: Kuala Lumpur spoke about the possible explosion of a nearby oil plant, while Seoul focused on the potential for a similar accident at a nuclear plant.

Yoshimura believed that a conference providing a forum to share experiences was useful even for a more developed city like Tokyo.

"We learned a lot from Taipei about dealing with SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). We draw inspiration to combat our own threat of infectious diseases. HIV/AIDS, for example, is a threat in Tokyo," she said.

Therefore, she said, she believed such crisis management conferences would be useful for other cities as well, including Jakarta.

"I heard Jakarta has a crisis center for floods now? I won't claim that it is because of ANMC21. But some Jakarta officials visited our crisis center in Tokyo. Surely they got some ideas for developing their center," Yoshimura said.

Separately, the chairman of the Earthquake and Megacities Initiative (EMI), Fouad Bendimerad, said that he believed cooperation between cities was important in reducing risk.

EMI's staff have visited Jakarta City Hall several times to help develop a framework for their Disaster Reduction Management Plan. The plan covers the overall strategy, approach and action for long term disaster risk reduction in Jakarta.

Seoul to Be Bike-Friendly City by 2010

By Kang Shin-who, Staff Reporter The Korea Times

Seoul Metropolitan City plans to set up more bicycle-only roads to encourage citizens and travelers to use eco-friendly forms of transport. The plan is part of the city's free bicycle scheme, which is similar to Paris' Velib.

Earlier in August, the city government announced it will install bike stations in various places around the city in much the same way as Paris is doing now. The French city has bike stations every 300 meters with about 20,000 public bicycles in order to reduced traffic jams and lessen environmental pollution.

A problem confronting Seoul, however, is that the city lacks road infrastructure and related transportation law to guarantee the efficient operation of the free bicycle project.

In order to secure the safety of bike riders, the city will expand the current 55-kilometer bike-only road length to up to 360 kilometers by 2010. For the plan, it will divide the city into five areas and invest 21.8 billion won to set up 45 bike-only roads.

A total of 24 billion won will be allotted to enable bike riders to safely travel between southern and northern Seoul. The bike-friendly project will also link Seoul city to other neighboring cities such as Guri City and Hanam City in Gyeonggi Province by 2009.

``Although the infrastructure construction is expensive, it will bring more benefits to the metropolitan city and its citizens by promoting the eco-friendly transportation,'' a Seoul city spokesman said. ``Bicycle-friendly communities will make people feel safer and more comfortable while riding their bikes for purposes of both fitness and transportation. With more Seoulities bicycling, we can experience reduced traffic demands, improved air quality and greater physical fitness,'' he said.

In addition, the city government will introduce insurance products for bicycle riders under close cooperation with the domestic insurance industry as well as revise Transportation Law involving a bicycle. The city also will invite more ideas to better design Seoul’s version of Velib.

kswho@koreatimes.co.kr

Indonesia To Bid Out In 2008 11 Toll Road Projects Worth $2.5 Billion

Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer, November 2, 2007 5:31 a.m. EST

Jakarta, Indonesia (AHN) - Indonesia is bidding out in 2008 11 toll road projects to boost the nation's economic growth. The projects, worth $2.5 billion, cover 350 kilometers of infrastructure projects in seven states.

Hisnu Pawenang, head of the Toll Road Regulatory Agency, identified the areas of the toll road projects as North Sulawesi, Bali, Riau, South Sumatera, North Sumatera, East Java and West Java.

After the winning bidders are picked late 2008, construction will start at the end of 2009 or early 2010, the Business Times of Malaysia reported.

The road projects aims to boost Indonesia's laggard infrastructure industry and in the process spur economic growth and alleviate poverty. The country had difficulty getting investors in the past due to red tape and corruption.

An earlier AsiaTimes Online report said the Indonesian government plans to build 1,500 kilometers of new toll roads worth $9.2 billion, but it covered until 2009.

Prijanto inspects city flood gates, rivers

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Deputy Governor Prijanto visited a number of flood gates and water reservoirs Friday to personally check the condition of rivers and availability of working pumps as the wet season approaches.

His first visit was to the Manggarai flood gate, South Jakarta, which helps control the flow of Ciliwung River.

The piles of garbage, logs and household waste that can usually be seen clogging the flood gate heading towards Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, had been dredged by the time the deputy governor arrived.

Prijanto received a report from an on-duty guard who said the river was routinely cleaned and the communication system was operational.

However, upon inspection of the flood gate that channels water towards Istiqlal Mosque, Central Jakarta, the deputy governor found piles of garbage blocking the flow of river water.

"I want this gate to be cleared by tomorrow morning," he told Suparman, the head of the water control and conservation division at the City Public Works agency. (Mustaqim Adamrah)

Government plans tender for Palapa Ring project

TeleGeography.com

Indonesia’s Information and Communication Minister Muhammad Nuh says the government will launch a tender for its Palapa Ring project – a fibre-optic network spanning Surabaya, East Java – on 10 November 2007. If completed, the new network could provide telephony and internet services to some 40,000 villages. The Jakarta Post reports that the state also plans to make provision for Wi-Fi infrastructure in east Indonesia where telecoms networks are currently woefully underdeveloped, and will offer free hotspots to boost internet uptake.

The Palapa Ring project, which was initiated in January 2005 during the first Indonesia Infrastructure Summit, is part of the government's plan to boost telecommunications penetration in the country, which currently stands at 20%.

The construction of a fibre-optic ring will connect Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua, and eight network connections, or backhauls. With an estimated 35,280km of submarine and 21,807km of terrrestrial fibre-optic cable, the project would connect 33 provinces and 440 cities. Construction is expected to start in early 2008 and the ring network is expected to enter into full operation in 2011.

Internet Traffic to be Watched by 2008

Thursday, 01 November, 2007 | 15:29 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Indonesia Security Incident Response Team on Internet Infrastructure (ID-SIRTII) will carry out its function as the Internet traffic supervisor in Indonesia starting next year.

The supervising is aimed at preventing the Internet being abused for crime.

ID-SIRTII Chief, Ricardus Eko Indrajit, said now the team would still be making preparations up until the end of 2007.

The preparations include lock system, traffic system and collaboration.

It is planned that ID-SIRTII will run lock file saving random tests this December.

ID-SIRTII will install a lock file with the capacity of 6 terrabytes during the test.

“But we don't know the real amount of the need yet,” said Eko Indrajit in Jakarta yesterday (31/10).

As regards the monitoring function, this will be performed in real-time.

According to ID-DIRTII Deputy Chairman, M. Salahuddien, the supervising will be carried out with a database which stores several Internet traffic pattern indications or unusual traffic indications.

Currently the local exchange traffic in Indonesia reaches 3 gigabytes per second so it is impossible for ID-SIRTII to monitor the content of Internet users.

Eko also said UD-SIRTII will ask that the supervising be audited according to international standards, such as ISO 9001.

ID-SIRTII, said Eko, will also cooperate with the Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK) in terms of watching Internet transactions in banks.

However, ID-SIRTII does not yet know the mechanism and the form of the cooperation in detail.

“But principally, we have the same perception,” said Eko.

DIAN YULIASTUTI

Yogyakarta city to convert barren land into parks

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta city administration plans to buy barren land plots from their owners and convert them into parks or playgrounds.

Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto said the city would use funds from the city budget to gradually buy all barren land plots in every subdistrict.

"Even if the size of the plots is only 300 or 400 square meters, we will buy and convert them into parks to realize the vision of 'My Green Yogyakarta'," said Herry.

"We've been planning this for the last two years," he added.

He estimated that each of the 150 villages in Yogyakarta would have at least one park and one playground. However he added that the mayoralty could develop only 10 to 15 parks a year due to limited funds.

The mayor also told The Jakarta Post that to promote the development of the "My Green Yogyakarta" program, which was officially launched over the weekend, the mayoralty and the legislative council were still deliberating an amendment of the bylaw on building permits.

The amendment, expected to be implemented next year, would require residential areas to allocate some portion of land for the development of parks, green spaces and catchment wells.

To motivate residents to make their city green, Herry and dozens of mayoralty officers planted 1,000 seedlings of various plants at road medians and in the yards of schools and places of worship.

"This event is part of a program to plant 30,000 seedlings in cooperation with state-owned forestry company Perum Perhutani," he said while planting seedlings on Jl. Menteri Supeno.

The 30,000 seedlings will be planted gradually, with completion slated for early 2008.

"I won't distribute the seedlings and ask residents to plant them but I'll let those who are eager to participate in the program to ask for some seedlings for their own areas," he said.

The residents' awareness of greening will be priceless for the next generation, he said, adding that the program would make Yogyakarta a city inside parks, not a park inside a city.

"This is our dream, and we will make it come true even though it will take a long time."

Indonesia air safety chief's vow on planes

Geoff Easdown, Herald Sun

November 02, 2007 12:00am

INDONESIA's head of air safety admitted yesterday not one of the country's 47 airlines qualified in an audit of safety standards.

Dr Budhi Suyitno, director-general of both transport and civil aviation, said most of the carriers came in at rating two, or below par, when judged on three levels of safety.

He said seven airlines, including low-cost carrier Adam Air, which owned the Boeing 737 jet that crashed in January killing 102 people, had been rated at the unsatisfactory grade of level three.

However he said Indonesian authorities were committed to fixing the country's disastrous aviation problems, which had caused European nations to ban Indonesian-registered planes.

Dr Suyitno is visiting Australia to address the Safe Skies aviation conference in Canberra.

He said the Garuda Airlines crash in March at Jogjakarta -- in which 21 people died, including five Australians -- was now a police matter.

However evidence that found the chief pilot at fault for ignoring warnings and landing the aircraft at an unsafe speed could not be used in any future criminal prosecution, Dr Suyitno said.

He told the Herald Sun yesterday he expected all of the country's airlines to reach the level one safety standard within 18 months.

"After getting all the information we realised that our level of safety was very, very low," he said.

"We are starting by giving education to our people on aviation safety levels.

"We have begun by classifying the airlines and making sure the people know what should and should not be done in complying with safety."

All airlines had now been audited, he said, and the seven on the lowest category of level three had been given three months to improve.

Dr Suyitno said after he was appointed to his post on March 13, he sought help in the US from retired US Air Force Maj-Gen Mark Rosenker.

The major-general censured him and the Indonesian Government for its failure to retrieve the black boxes from the wreck in Macassar Strait, he said.

The black boxes were finally recovered in August.

Details of the accident report would be released within the next few weeks, he said.

Mandala skids off runway, injuring five

Surabaya, E Java (ANTARA News) - A Mandala Airlines plane skidded off the runway at Abdurrahman Saleh Airport in the East Java city of Malang on Thursday, injuring five passengers.

The runway was slippery after heavy rain when the Boeing 737 carrying tens of passengers from Jakarta was landing at the airport, spokesman for the airport Capt Wayudi said.

"None of the passengers was killed," he said.

RI to ask Malaysia to return its control of FIR over Natuna

Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA News) - Indonesia will ask Malaysia to return the control of its Flight Information Region (FIR) over Natuna Island as a form of Indonesia`s sovereignty over its air space.

"This is one of the topics of discussion between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in Kuala Lumpur in December 2007," Air Transportation Attache at the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Sahar Andika Putra, said here on Thursday.

The FIR over Natuna Island was previously under the control of Singapore and Malaysia under the Asia-Pacific Regional Air Navigation (RAN) agreement reached in Honolulu in 1973.

Under the agreement, Singapore would control air traffic at altitudes of over 20,000 feet over Natuna Island, and below 20,000 feet over Malaysia.

Since 1995, Singapore was prepared to return the FIR control to Indonesia, but Malaysia was reluctant to do the same, although Indonesia has proposed a revised draft on the FIR in 1999 and 2004.

"The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will approve the draft on the FIR over Natuna if Singapore and Malaysia agreed to it," Sahar said.

He said that the ICAO was merely thinking flight safety. "Singapore has agreed, but we are still waiting for a Malaysian response. Because it concerns Indonesia`s sovereignty, President Yudhoyono will discuss the matter in a meeting with the Malaysian premier," Sahar added.

It seems that Malsysia is not yet prepared to discuss the FIR control over Natuna Island as it concerns a legal regime agreement reached in 1982.

"Indonesia wants the FIR control over the island restored to it, because so far its commercial and military flights through its own air space over the area must be reported to Malaysia`s control tower," he said.

Indonesia`s Lion Air plans to become major regional player

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The country's largest private airline Lion Air said it is set to become a major regional player by establishing subsidiaries in neighboring countries.

Chief spokesman of PT Lion Mentari Airlines Hasyim Arsal Alhabsi said the company plans to acquire a majority stake in a number of local airlines or establish new airlines in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

The expansion plan follow delivery of some of the 122 Boeing 737-900ER planes it has ordered from Boeing, Alhabsi said.

Fumes from crude palm oil kill 6 Indonesian workers

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): Fumes from a shipment of crude palm oil are believed to have killed six workers workers and injured several others who were cleaning a tanker in western Indonesia, police said Thursday.

Three teenage workers descended into the 4-meter-deep hold of the ship Wednesday night and began screaming for help, said police Lt. Amam Wahyudi. Three others followed them in and also collapsed, he said.

"The dead were believed to be poisoned by gases from crude palm oil," said Wahyudi, adding that the victims had blood foaming from their mouths and noses.

Another six men were admitted to hospital for treatment on the island of Sumatra.

Industrial safety standards are very poor in Indonesia, a vast island nation with a population of 235 million, and chemicals are often used without protective gear.